What's Mine is Mine

When the phone rang Jethro Gibbs was at lunch, which was reallymore of a coffee break than a real lunch. He checked the i.d., expecting hisson, Tony. Rather than his son, though, it was his dad, Jackson Gibbs. ,

"Hey, Dad," Jethro greeted, "I was going to call you tonight. What's up?"

Jackson Gibbs cleared his throat and answered, "Well, you tell me what you were calling for first."

"I wanted to check a possible babysitting date with you. The Director is talking about sending me to San Diego for a three day training at the end of September. Would it be a problem if I needed you to come to DC to help out with Tony? Maria will be here as she always is, but I thought you might like the chance to spend some time with him. That's what you said last time, right, that you wanted more time with him?"

Jackson was immediately pleased at the prospect. "Just let me know the dates, Leroy, and I'll close the store and be down there with my grandson. How's he doing?"

"Thanks, Dad, I appreciate knowing I can count on you. He's fine, but he's trying to cram in every outdoor activity he can get before school starts back. I get exhausted just watching him go."

"Ok, good. I called you about something else, though."

"Which is...?"

"Do you remember Lisa, my cousin John's daughter? She's been in the New York City area for several years, but she and her husband have just finished a really contentious divorce..."

"What's this to me, Dad?" Jethro interrupted impatiently, pushing up his sleeve so that he could check his watch.

"Hold your horses. The point is, she's got a kid and has landed a job in Washington. She doesn't know a soul there, and hasn't even had a chance to house hunt. The job starts next week. I told her father I was pretty sure you wouldn't mind having the two of them stay with you until they got settled."

"Dad, that's not..."

"It won't be permanent Son, and the poor girl needs a break and needs someone to show her the ropes there."

"Dad, I don't want to host anyone."

"How would you feel if the situation were reversed, and you and my handsome grandson had nowhere to go? She's family, son."

That made an impression and Jackson smiled to himself. Jethro sighed audibly and finally said, "Ok, give her my number, and I'll help her. You promise me it's temporary, though?"

"I promise. Ok, this is good of you. Let me go so that I can get word to her."

They said their good byes and after his dad disconnected, Jethro shook his head incredulously. How did his father always get him to do things he didn't want to do? It was unbelievable how cunning that man was.

Later that night Lisa did call, and was so grateful and friendly that Jethro felt guilty about ever wanting to refuse the favor. It was set that she and Malcolm, her son, would arrive the next week. Coincidentally, Malcolm was twelve, the same age as Tony, so both boys should have some things in common, according to both parents.

Tony remained unimpressed with news of the upcoming visit and acted strangely uninterested with the development. Jethro and Maria, or Abuela, as Tony called her, were a little surprised that Tony didn't want access to every single detail.

Maria was more than the housekeeper. Over the years she had evolved into a family member, and she undertook preparations for the company as soon as she heard the news. She had the guest room ready pretty quickly, within two days, and told Tony to get up to his room and start on a major clean up.

Tony's suspicions surfaced instantly. His response was to start arguing loudly that there was no reason to clean up a room that would be off limits. Maria sighed deeply and answered that the contrary was true. Malcolm would be sharing Tony's room.

Anthony Gibbs was stunned and absolutely horrified, and resumed disagreeing in earnest. No, no, no, he didn't want to share anything with the stranger cousin! He worked himself up into such a tirade that Maria started counting, which was a signal that Tony was getting himself into trouble, and when she made it from one, then to two, then to three, she made good on the threat and punished him. Instead of meeting his friends that afternoon so that they could ride their bikes, Tony would be confined to the house until he cleaned his room as he had been instructed.

Maria's penalty did nothing to improve Tony's mood, and to show his displeasure, he deliberately skipped the cleaning and simply moved all of his "treasures" to one side of his bedroom, which he had determined would be his kingdom. Then he threw himself on the bed and pouted.